The present invention relates generally to a novel process for the preparation of (R)-3-(4-Bromobenzyl)-1-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-5-iodo-3-methyl-1-H-imidazo[1,2-xcex1]imidazol-2-one. This compound is useful as an intermediate in the preparation of certain small molecules that are useful in the treatment or prevention of inflammatory and immune cell-mediated diseases. The present invention also relates to certain novel intermediates used in this novel process.
(R)-3-(4-Bromobenzyl)-1-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-5-iodo-3-methyl-1-H-imidazo[1,2-xcex1]-imidazol-2-one (1) is an advanced intermediate used in the preparation of certain small molecules that inhibit the interaction of cellular adhesion molecules, specifically by antagonizing the binding of human intercellular adhesion molecules (including ICAM-1, ICAM-2and ICAM-3) to the Leukointegrins (especially CD18/CD 11a or xe2x80x9cLFA-1xe2x80x9d). As a result, these small molecules are useful in the treatment or prevention of inflammatory and immune cell-mediated diseases. See U.S. Nonprovisional Application No. 09/604,312, Wu et al., filed on Jun. 27, 2000, herein incorporated by 
reference.
The method that has been used to prepare compound 1is illustrated in Scheme 1below. 
In this procedure, an amino-ester 2 was reacted with 3,5-dichlorophenylisothiocyanate 3 to provide thiohydantoin 4. To a solution of triphenylphosphine (PPh3) was added the azide 5. After stirring at room temperature overnight, thiohydantoin 4 was added to provide 6. Treatment of 6 with trifluoroacetic acid provided 7. Iodination was then carried out by reaction of 7 with N-iodosuccinimide and pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate to provide 1. Recovered 7 may be recycled to provide additional 1.
The present invention is directed to a novel process for the preparation of compound 1. A first aspect of the invention is directed to a process for preparing a compound of the formula 1: 
said process comprising the following steps:
a) reacting a compound of the formula I with a compound of the formula 
xe2x80x83where R is C1-6alkyl, in an aprotic organic solvent, followed by adding a triarylphosphine, a carbon tetrahalide and a tertiary amine, to form a compound of the formula IIa where R is C1-6alkyl: 
b) optionally hydrolyzing a compound of the formula IIa produced in step a) by reacting the compound of formula IIa with a base to form a compound of the formula IIb: 
c) reacting a compound of the formula IIa produced in step a) with a Lewis acid and a phosphine oxide compound of the formula (R1)3PO, wherein R1 is C1-6alkyl or aryl, in an aprotic organic solvent to form a compound of the formula III: 
xe2x80x83when the optional step b) is performed, reacting a compound of the formula IIb produced in step b) with a coupling agent in an aprotic organic solvent to form a compound of the formula III: 
d) reacting a compound of the formula III produced in step c) with a strong base and a compound of the formula (R2O)2POCl, wherein R2 is C1-6alkyl or aryl, in a polar organic solvent at a temperature of about xe2x88x9290xc2x0 C. to about 0xc2x0 C. to form a compound of the formula IV where R2 is C1-6alkyl or aryl: 
e) reacting a compound of the formula IV produced in step d) with trimethylsilyl iodide, or with sodium iodide and trimethylsilyl chloride, in an aprotic organic solvent to form a compound of the formula 1: 
A second aspect of the invention is directed to the individual novel steps of the above inventive process. A third aspect of the invention is directed to the novel intermediates IIa, IIb, III and IV. A final aspect of the invention is directed to the novel urea intermediate of the following formula Ia produced in the first step of the inventive process and its process of preparation: 
wherein R is C1-6alkyl.
The individual steps of the inventive process are described in detail below, along with other aspects of the present invention.
All terms as used herein in this specification, unless otherwise stated, shall be understood in their ordinary meaning as known in the art. For example, a xe2x80x9cC1-6alkylxe2x80x9d is an alkyl group having from 1to 6carbon atoms, which group can be branched or unbranched. The term xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d, either alone or as part of another group, shall be understood to mean an optionally substituted 6-10membered aromatic carbocycle; xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d includes, for example, phenyl and naphthyl, each of which may be optionally substituted.
Optimum reaction conditions and reaction times for the individual steps may vary depending on the particular reactants used. Unless otherwise specified, solvents, temperatures, pressures and other reaction conditions may be readily selected by one of ordinary skill in the art. Specific procedures are provided in the Synthetic Examples section. Typically, reaction progress may be monitored by thin layer chromatography (TLC) if desired. Intermediates and products may be purified by chromatography on silica gel and/or recrystallization. Unless otherwise set forth, the starting materials and reagents are either commercially available or may be prepared by one skilled in the art using methods described in the chemical literature.
Step (a)
Step a) of the inventive process comprises reacting a compound of the formula I with a compound of the formula 
where R is C1-6alkyl, in an aprotic organic solvent, followed by adding a triarylphosphine, a carbon tetrahalide and a tertiary amine, to form a compound of the formula IIa where R is C1-6alkyl: 
The starting material of formula I is prepared as described in Yee, N., xe2x80x9cSelf-Regeneration of Stereocenters: A Practical Enantiospecific Synthesis of LFA-1 Antagonist BIRT-377xe2x80x9d, Org. Lett. 2000, 2, 2781-2783, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. This process is set forth in detail below: 
The commercially available (D)-N-Boc-alanine 9 is reacted with 3,5-dichloroaniline via a mixed anhydride intermediate (i-BuOCOCl, N-methylmorpholine, xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C. to rt, THF) to give amide 10. Deprotection of the crude amide 10 by TFA in dichloromethane afforded amino N-aryl amide 11 in 92% yield over two steps.
The amino amide 11 is treated with pivalaldehyde in refluxing pentane. A crystalline solid is directly formed from the reaction mixture and identified as the desired trans imidazolidinone 12 as a single diastereomer in 74% yield. After protection of 12 (TFAA, Et3N, 0 C. to rt, CH2Cl2, 98% yield) to obtain 13, the crude 13in THF is deprotonated with LiN(TMS)2 at xe2x88x9230 to xe2x88x9220xc2x0 C. and then the resulting enolate is alkylated at xe2x88x9230xc2x0 C. to 0xc2x0 C. with 4-bromobenzyl bromide from the opposite face of the t-butyl group to give the 5,5-disubstituted 14 as a single diastereomer in 96% yield.
The trifluoroacetamide group of 14 is first hydrolyzed (1.5eq. BnMe3NOH, 2.0 eq. 50% NaOH, rt to 40xc2x0 C., dioxane) to give a mixture of the corresponding partially hydrolyzed N-unsubstituted acetal of 14, Schiff base of I, and I itself. Subsequent direct addition of 6N HCl to the above mixture resulted in complete hydrolysis to afford amino amide I in quantitative yield.
In step (a) of the present inventive process, the compound of formula I is first reacted with an isocyanatoacetate of the formula 
where R is C1-6alkyl to form a urea of the following formula Ia in situ: 
where R is C1-6alkyl. It is not necessary to isolate the novel urea Ia, although it has been isolated and characterized. The urea of formula Ia is dehydrated in situ by adding a triarylphosphine, a carbon tetrahalide and a tertiary amine to the reaction mixture. The resulting carbodiimide undergoes a spontaneous cyclization to provide the ester of formula IIa in good yield.
The formation of ureas from isocyanates in general is documented in the scientific literature (See, e.g., Chem. Rev. 1981, 589, and references cited therein). In the process of the present invention, however, it is not necessary to isolate the urea, which can be dehydrated in situ to afford a carbodiimide that further undergoes a spontaneous cyclization.
The dehydration of a urea to afford an intermediate carbodiimide is also documented in the literature (Appel, R., Kleinstuck, R., Ziehn, K. Chem. Ber. 1971, 104, 1335). However, the process of the present invention goes beyond the dehydration of the urea intermediate, since the carbodiimide is not isolated and undergoes a spontaneous cyclization to give IIa.
Moreover, the novel compound of formula IIa is another aspect of the present invention and is not disclosed in the above cited references.
Suitable C1-6alkyl R groups for the isocyanatoacetate and formula IIa in step a) include, for example, methyl and ethyl.
Step a) is performed in an aprotic organic solvent. Suitable aprotic organic solvents for this step include, for example, tetrahydroflran, toluene, dichloromethane, dichloroethane and chloroform. Suitable triarylphosphines in step a) include, for example, triphenylphosphine, wherein the phenyl groups are optionally substituted, for example, with one or more methoxy or amino groups. Suitable carbon tetrahalides in step a) include, for example, CCl4 and CBr4. Suitable tertiary amines in step a) include, for example, trialkylamine, 1-methylpyrrolidine or 1-methylmorpholine. A preferred tertiary amine for use in step a) is triethylamine.
Step (b)
Step (b) of the inventive process is an optional hydrolysis step and comprises hydrolyzing the ester compound of the formula IIa produced in step a) by reacting the compound of formula IIa with a base to form the corresponding acid compound of the formula IIb: 
Suitable bases for this step include, for example, alkali metal hydroxides such as lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. The novel compound of formula IIb produced in this step is another aspect of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the inventive process, this optional hydrolysis step b) is not performed and the ester of formula IIa produced in step a) is used directly in the next step of the process, step c).
Step (c)
Step (c) of the inventive process comprises reacting a compound of the formula IIa produced in step a) with a Lewis acid and a phosphine oxide compound of the formula (R1)3PO, wherein R1 is C1-6alkyl or aryl, in an aprotic organic solvent to form a compound of the formula III: 
or
when the optional step b) is performed, step c) comprises reacting a compound of the formula IIb produced in step b) with a coupling agent in an aprotic organic solvent to form a compound of the formula III: 
When the ester compound of formula IIa is employed in step (c), the ester IIa is cyclized in the presence of a Lewis acid and a phosphine oxide compound to provide the imidazo-imidazole-3,5-dione of formula III in good yield. This is similar to a known procedure for the synthesis of lactams (Takahata, H., Banba, Y., Momose, T. Tetrahedron, 1991, 47, 7635). It was observed, however, that following the reaction conditions described in the literature failed to afford the desired product III in significant yield. It was discovered that the addition of a phosphine oxide compound of the formula (R1)3PO, wherein R1 is C1-6alkyl or aryl, was necessary for the reaction to proceed efficiently.
Step c) is performed in an aprotic organic solvent. Suitable aprotic organic solvents for this step include, for example, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, dichloromethane, dichloroethane or chloroform. Suitable Lewis acids for use in this step include, for example, AlCl3, TiCl4 and trialkylaluminums of the formula (C1-6alkyl)3Al, such as Me3Al. Suitable phosphine oxides for this step include, for example, triarylphosphine oxides such as triphenylphosphine oxide, wherein the phenyl groups are optionally substituted with one or more methoxy or amino groups.
When the acid compound of formula IIb is employed in step (c), a coupling agent is used to cause cyclization via an intramolecular coupling between the carboxylic acid group and the amine group (i.e., a peptide-type coupling reaction). Suitable coupling agents for this purpose include conventional peptide coupling agents, for example, acetic anhydride, acetyl chloride, thionyl chloride and oxalyl chloride. Suitable aprotic organic solvents for this step are the same as described above.
The novel imidazo-imidazole-3,5-dione compound of formula III produced in step c) is another aspect of the present invention.
Step (d)
Step (d) of the inventive process comprises reacting a compound of the formula III produced in step c) with a strong base and a compound of the formula (R2O)2POCl, wherein R2is C1-6alkyl or aryl, in a polar organic solvent at a temperature of about xe2x88x9290xc2x0 C. to about 0xc2x0 C. to form a compound of the formula IV where R2is C1-6alkyl or aryl: 
The synthesis of the vinyl phosphate compound IV is similar to a known procedure for the preparation of ketene aminal phosphates from lactams (Nicolau, K. C., Shi, G., Kenji, N., Bemal, F. Chem. Commun. 1998, 1757).
The novel vinyl phosphate compound of formula IV produced in step d) is another aspect of the present invention and is not disclosed by the above cited reference.
Step d) is conducted in the presence of a strong base. In the context of this invention, a strong base is a base having a pKa of greater than 20. Suitable strong bases for use in this step include, for example, alkali metal amides, such as potassium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide, lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide, sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide and lithium diisopropylamide.
In one embodiment, the R2 group in the chlorophosphate compound (R2O)2POCl and in the compound of formula IV is a C1-6alkyl group, preferably methyl or ethyl.
Step d) is conducted in a polar organic solvent. Suitable polar organic solvents include, for example, diethyl ether, dipropyl ether, diisopropyl ether, dibutyl ether, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), dipentyl ether, diisopentyl ether, ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran, N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethyl-acetamide, DMSO or N-methyl-2-pyrollidone.
Step d) is conducted at a temperature of about xe2x88x9290xc2x0 C. to about 0xc2x0 C., preferably about xe2x88x9250xc2x0 C. to about xe2x88x925xc2x0 C., more preferably about xe2x88x9230xc2x0 C. to about xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C. In one embodiment, step d) is conducted at a temperature of about xe2x88x9220xc2x0 C. The term xe2x80x9caboutxe2x80x9d in this context means a temperature between 10% above and 10% below the recited value, inclusive. For example, xe2x80x9cabout xe2x88x9220xc2x0 C.xe2x80x9d means a temperature falling in the range xe2x88x9218xc2x0 C. to xe2x88x9222xc2x0 C.
Step (e)
Step (e) of the inventive process is an iodination that comprises reacting a compound of the formula IV produced in step d) with trimethylsilyl iodide (TMSI), or with sodium iodide (NaI) and trimethylsilyl chloride (TMSCl), in an aprotic organic solvent to form a compound of the formula 1: 
The synthesis of the compound of formula 1from the vinyl phosphate compound of formula IV is related to a known procedure for the preparation of vinyl iodides from ketone-derived enol phosphates (Lee, K., Wiemer, D. F. Tetrahedron Lett. 1993, 34, 2433).
However, the enol phosphates in the literature procedure are ketone-derived vinyl phosphates and not lactam-derived ketene aminal phosphates like formula IV.
The iodination in step e) is conducted by reacting the vinyl phosphate compound of formula IV with trimethylsilyl iodide, or with sodium iodide and trimethylsilyl chloride. When sodium iodide and trimethylsilyl chloride are used, these two compounds react in situ to form trimethylsilyl iodide, which then reacts with formula IV to form the iodinated compound of formula 1.
Step e) is conducted in an aprotic organic solvent. Suitable aprotic organic solvents for this step include, for example, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, dichloromethane, dichloroethane, chloroform and acetonitrile.
Step (e) is optionally conducted in the presence of water. It has been found that water accelerates the formation of the iodide compound of formula 1. This step has been run with up to 6 equivalents of water, although higher amounts of water can be used. In one embodiment, the amount of water present is from about 0.5 to 1.5 equivalents, preferably about 0.8 to 1.2 equivalents.